Jet-cut Steel and Iron Umbrellas
by MagicGirl41
Summary: A collection of one-shots and drabbles on the beautiful, unlikely, and completely fan-made friendship between the Iron Dragonslayer and the Rain Woman. Will include plenty of FT ships, but mainly Gajeel/Levy and Grey/Juvia. Please review! Chapter 3: Juvia was no longer alone
1. Names

**Hey guys! Welcome to Jet-cut Steel and Iron Umbrellas! This is actually my first FT fanfic, which is weird to say considering I've been writing them for years but I've never posted one. Well, there's a first time for everything! I've been obsessed with Gajeel being an older-brother figure to Juvia for a while, and since Corrose (check her out!) has already posted the perfect Gajeel/Levy (FT OTP!) story collection (Ironbound Paperbacks) I decided to dedicate an entire collection to just these two. I'll update it whenever I get inspiration! Yeah!**

**All rights for the incredible anime/manga Fairy Tail goes to Hiro Mashima!**

It was on a sour, rainy day when he first saw her. At the time Gajeel himself was fairly new to the guild, but he had already gained a lofty reputation. And an empty table. Which was _fine _by him. But the flies that frequently inhabited Jose's palace seemed to travel in swarms, which was why it was surprising to see her so alone.

Yet there she was, huddled in a corner, working away at some kind of creepy-looking doll. Gajeel stared at her for a while, and then grabbed a passing mage. He almost laughed at the shaking man, but instead he jerked his head towards the corner. "Who's she?"

The trembling man swallowed. "Oh... h-her, G-g-gajeel sama? S-she's new. We c-call her t-th-the Rain Woman." Gajeel grunted and let go, allowing the terrified mage to scramble away.

_Rain woman... What the hella kind of name is that?_

**Please review! ;D**


	2. Nicknames

**Ohmygoshohmygosh thank-you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much! I posted this at ten last night, and when I checked my email there were already five followers, three favorites and two reviews! And when I got back from school there were four more followers! I can't even explain how incredibly awesome that was, and I wrote three more one-shots for this collection today! I was going to post another tomorrow, but I'm so greatful that I'm posting it today instead! Callouts to ****Pinky Berry****, ****emily. payne. 925 giabertrand22****, ****SakurIchigoDark**** and ****JasonTodd'sGirl42**** for following, ****ravenred123****, ****Sage Dans Les Lys****, ****Yarachi-chanX3**** for favoriting, ****Yarachi-chanX3**** for favoriting **_**me**_**, and to ****Guest**** and ****Sage Dans Les Lys**** for reviewing! Here it is!**

He watches with continuously raising eyebrows as creepy water girl picks up an S-class quest and leaves. Leaves_ without a team._ He has seen that one on the billboard before—either she _really_ needs money, or she _really_ likes demons. She'll die. He sighs, grumbles, reminds himself exactly where caring gets people, and then stands up and follows her.

-:-

It's a damn good thing he does, too, because although he's impressed by her magic, it's nowhere _near_ the level she needs to stay alive, much less finish the job. Those long days of trailing her pay off, and he saves her life, destroying the demons in the process. At that point, he doesn't know that he's started something irreplaceable, that he'll never be able to shake off this girl for the rest of his life. He only knows, from her sob story, that she needs the money for her sick father, even though he doesn't want to see her face again. He briefly thinks of Metalica, and dumps the whole bag of gold into her arms, leaving with a casual, "See you, raindrop."

(The next day she sits at his table instead of in her corner, and he glares but does not reproach.)

(The nickname sticks.)

**Please review!**


	3. Not Alone

***peeks head out***** ...Hey guys!**

**Sorry this is so late (and a bit short), but I've been getting writer's block on a longer one (by request of ) and I finally decided to just post this (I wrote it yesterday in the library ^^). It'll be bigger next time! I promise! **

**I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Juvia's father loved her, once. When she was a little girl with bright sunny smiles for her mommy and daddy, he used to scoop her up and toss her in the air, saying that she was flying in the sky, like the stars. Then he would catch her and tickle her and her mother would call them in for cookies and lemonade and they would sit out on the dewy grass and let the sunbeams warm their faces.

Then her mother died.

Juvia's father didn't have time for her anymore. He didn't throw her in the air, or call her star-girl. There were no more cookies or lemonade, only cold meals never eaten together and the bottles he brought home. Her smiles became less and less sunny, until one day, they disappeared altogether.

And that was the day it started raining.

As hard as she tried, she couldn't make it stop. The clouds followed Juvia everywhere, making her lose her friends and her character. The stars and the sun never shone on her. Her boyfiends always broke up with her. She would wrestle bottle after bottle out of her father's grasp, keep knives and rope away, but he never breathed a word of thanks. Then one day, he screamed about ungrateful children and never-ending rain and ruined lives and she was suddenly on the streets with bruised arms and nowhere to go. Jose had taken her in, given her work, and she _was_ grateful, but it's not like any of the guild members tried to talk.

But then _he_, the big scary Iron-mage with all the piercings, had followed her, saved her life, and ruffled her hair as he left.

_Raindrop..._

When he let her sit with him the next day, Juvia knew that she was no longer alone.

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**Review please! They are my air ;)**


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